1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a playback apparatus such as an HD DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) player, and a playback method using the playback apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with development of digital compression encoding technique of moving images, playback apparatuses (players) which can deal with high-definition images of HD (High Definition) standard have been developed.
Players of this type are required to have functions for merging a plurality of image data items at a high order to enhance interactive property.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 8-205092 discloses a system which combines graphics data with video data by a display controller. In the system, the display controller captures video data, and combines the captured video data with part of area on a graphics picture.
In the meantime, in conventional systems including the system disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 8-205092 are predicated on dealing with video data of a relatively low definition, and not intended to deal with high-definition images such as video data of the HD standard. Further, they are not intended to superimpose many image data items.
On the other hand, in the HD standard, it is required to superimpose five image data items at the maximum, and the required processing amount exceeds the actual processing power of playback apparatuses. Therefore, proper distribution and increased efficiency of processing in view of load are strongly required.